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Catherine P. Blaine letter to her family regarding life in Washington Territory and conflicts between settlers and local Native Americans, March 7, 1854

By our last mail we received letters from home, dated Dec. 17 and Jan'y 3rd. We have lost, or at least have not received those which should have been sent in the steamer of Dec 5th. You wrote that you had written, and that was the mail in which Kate Palmer was to have sent her letter. How many others may have been it we cannot tell, but most since[torn] regret that we must be deprived of any. Possibly, too, Br. Terry at N. Y. may have sent a bill of lading for our goods. We have not heard one word from them since we left N. Y. and we very much fear we shall lose them. Goods sent to San Fran. if not claimed very soon after the arrival of a vessel, nor consigned to any one, are sold to pay freight. I do not know whether Br. Terry knows this or not, but he has been very negligent in other cases, we learn, and fear he will not take the proper steps in reference to this. Mr. Blaine says if they should be lost through his carelessness he should be strongly inclined to go back. I refert we had not written to you concerning them before but possibly it may not yet be too late. I do not know but David mentioned it in his last letter, but we should be very glad to have you write to him and learn when, and in what vessel, and for what place he shipped them. If he has sent them to Oregon, they might better be in N. Y. for we could get them easier from there. There are no vessels moving here from the mouth of the Columbia, and it is next to impossible get anything across the country.

We were glad to hear of the health and prosperity of the friends

[In top margin continued from bottom of page 4:]a different subject from that of this letter, but the occurrences of the last few days, I thought it best to inform you concerning. I hope you will continue to write, all of you. If Father can spare the time to write to us, it would be considered a great favor. We are both well, have excellent appetities. We eat our bread and water and a great many other good things with a hearty relish. I would like to send home some of the fish we have. The nicest I ever saw. I know you would like it.Kate

Catherine Paine was born in 1829. She married a Methodist minister and missionary, David Blaine (1824-1900) and the pair lived in Seneca Falls, New York. They were both active in the New England evangelical movement during the 1840s and 1850s. Catherine also promoted women's rights and signed the Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions in July 1848 at Seneca Falls. This declaration later led to the formation of the National Woman Suffrage Association in 1869. In the 1850s, the Blaines went as missionaries to Puget Sound by ship, crossing the Isthmus of Panama. They finally landed at Alki in November 1853. Initially, they stayed as guests in the home of early settlers, Arthur A. Denny and his wife, Mary. The Blaines did their best to adapt to pioneer life, though Catherine frequently lamented in letters home how savage and dirty the settlers and the local Native Americans were. The other settlers found the Blaines a little too well-mannered but they eventually warmed to them. Meanwhile, the Blaines went about the business of serving the community and making a life for themselves. David frequently helped clear lots while Catherine did her best to undertake housekeeping. In December 1853, David established a Methodist Episcopal congregation under his ministry. Church meetings were held in a building offered by Guthrie Latimer. Unfortunately, David's sermons usually attracted no more than four people. In January 1854, many of the settlers combined to employ Catherine as a school teacher. She initially taught eight students and earned a salary of $65 a month. School was first held in the Latimer Building and later in the Blaines' new home. Carson Boren and Doc Maynard offered land to the Blaines for a church, parsonage and seminary. In May 1855, a small white church, nicknamed the "Little White Church" was officially dedicated. In January 1856, Catherine gave birth to their son, Jon, just days before the Battle of Seattle took place in the Yakima War. Following the battle, the couple moved to Portland for further missionary work. They returned to Seattle in 1882. Catherine died in 1908, eight years after David's death. The letters they sent home to New York during this period paint a vivid picture of early settler life in Seattle.

By our last mail we received letters from home, dated Dec. 17 and Jan'y 3rd. We have lost, or at least have not received those which should have been sent in the steamer of Dec 5th. You wrote that you had written, and that was the mail in which Kate Palmer was to have sent her letter. How many others may have been it we cannot tell, but most since[torn] regret that we must be deprived of any. Possibly, too, Br. Terry at N. Y. may have sent a bill of lading for our goods. We have not heard one word from them since we left N. Y. and we very much fear we shall lose them. Goods sent to San Fran. if not claimed very soon after the arrival of a vessel, nor consigned to any one, are sold to pay freight. I do not know whether Br. Terry knows this or not, but he has been very negligent in other cases, we learn, and fear he will not take the proper steps in reference to this. Mr. Blaine says if they should be lost through his carelessness he should be strongly inclined to go back. I refert we had not written to you concerning them before but possibly it may not yet be too late. I do not know but David mentioned it in his last letter, but we should be very glad to have you write to him and learn when, and in what vessel, and for what place he shipped them. If he has sent them to Oregon, they might better be in N. Y. for we could get them easier from there. There are no vessels moving here from the mouth of the Columbia, and it is next to impossible get anything across the country.

We were glad to hear of the health and prosperity of the friends

[In top margin continued from bottom of page 4:]a different subject from that of this letter, but the occurrences of the last few days, I thought it best to inform you concerning. I hope you will continue to write, all of you. If Father can spare the time to write to us, it would be considered a great favor. We are both well, have excellent appetities. We eat our bread and water and a great many other good things with a hearty relish. I would like to send home some of the fish we have. The nicest I ever saw. I know you would like it.Kate